


Heart to Heart

by memefair



Series: Canon Divergent: Nanamicentric [7]
Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Human Nanami Chiaki, Nanami Chiaki Lives
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-09
Updated: 2018-05-09
Packaged: 2019-05-04 06:17:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 903
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14586795
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/memefair/pseuds/memefair
Summary: Those three words are pretty hard when your boyfriend has a track record of having the emotional intelligence of a peanut.





	Heart to Heart

**Author's Note:**

> do i even tag izuru in this when his personality has merged with hajimes by now? i dont. know. my best guess is "no, because people will come here expecting izuru and only get very vague hints of him and then get angry with me for misleading them"
> 
> anyway here's some old fluff bc i wanted to write the next part of beautiful ruin but my brain's combusted
> 
> edit: ok maybe i should give this a proper title even though i hate titling things

“It’s too hot in here.” Sprawled out on the bed, head on his lap as her eyes stayed glued to the screen she held up over her face, Chiaki felt a bead of sweat slip down behind her ear.

“…maybe if you’d take your hoodie off,” she heard him comment, turning a page in the book he was reading.

Chiaki snorted. “You’re one to talk,” she retorted, whacking his book lightly with the device in her hands. Granted, he’d discarded some of his old habits, his supposed “resistance” to weather being one of them… but that didn’t mean she’d let him off the hook.

His reply came in the sort of disinterested, bored tone she’d come to resent and adore the past couple of years. “If you say so.”

Chiaki scowled at that, ignoring his mild protests as she began to worm her way up, forcing herself between him and the novel he was already more than halfway through. When she was done, she sat on his lap with her arms folded, playfully blocking his view every time he tried to move. In the end he gave up with a sigh, putting his book to the side.

She turned, burying her face in the crook of his neck. Even though she’d been complaining about the heat just moments before, she didn’t actually mind all that much.

“Hajime,” Chiaki mumbled.

“…Yeah?”

Her breath was hot on his skin. She paused a moment, as if to collect her thoughts, and then: “You’re using my shampoo again, aren’t you?”

He stuttered out an embarrassed response, and she smiled, putting her arms around him.

“I don’t mind… probably,” Chiaki interrupted, showing him a bit of mercy in that moment. “It’s not like you’re using it all up in one go.”

 _Now_ , anyway.

After that, the room fell silent. She could faintly feel his pulse against her cheek, and it was steady and comforting enough that she actually started to doze off.

Her own breathing slowed, eyes fluttering and then closing after a few moments. Even though she knew her position couldn’t be particularly comfortable for him, he only adjusted a little, sinking down further against the head board of the bed.

That sense of tranquility wouldn’t last.

She knew that, given how badly the world wanted their friends dead. She struggled to keep her head above the water enough that when peaceful moments actually came to her, she held onto them for as long as possible.

She just hoped the weight on him wasn’t too heavy– literally and figuratively. She worried about him more than she cared to admit.

It was kind of strange, considering he’d been the best and worst thing in her life so far. He only had that kind of power over her because of how important he was to her.

Caring for somebody could be a double-edged weapon, Chiaki had decided. And it wasn’t like she was fully without blame, either. For a while, even though she’d taken it out on him, she’d still felt like it was her fault for trusting him in the first place.

Just because she’d forgiven him, didn’t mean she’d forgiven herself. That took a while longer, as she tried to get him through the jarring transition that came after the program was shut down.

A consequence even he hadn’t predicted, ironically what he was aiming for and yet so far from what he’d actually wanted. The person she’d known before would hate what he’d become.

 _Just get it over with,_ she told herself.

“Hey.”

She found herself speaking again without fully meaning to. Chiaki shifted, swallowing nervously, noting how he gave her time to find her words without interjecting. For some reason a sense of guilt flooded into her, that he could recognize her patterns so easily by now. She bit her lip, steadying herself, pulling away so she could look him in the eyes.

“…I love you,” was what finally escaped after the silence grew too uncomfortable to bear.

Yet that silence continued immediately after.

Blood rushed to her cheeks until almost her entire face had turned red, and if she’d bothered to look, she’d have noticed a similar shade of crimson starting at his ears and then spreading. It was less than a minute, but it felt like an eternity to her.

“…I love you too,” he muttered.

She thought that if he had a shell to hide in, he would have disappeared right in that moment.

Chiaki understood. Really, she did. It had been hard enough working up the nerve to say it, even when she’d felt it for so long. As Izuru, even if he’d had those feelings, he would have forced them down so deep they might as well not have existed.

But she still reached down to pinch his cheeks, glaring at him as a pout rose up on her still-pink face. He winced, trying to shake her off.

“What’s that look for?” he grumbled, swatting at her hands.

“You took too long to say it!” Chiaki burst out.

There was a sarcastic remark waiting to be released as he opened his mouth to argue, but then the light in the room caught the glitter of unshed tears in her eyes. He immediately bit his tongue, pulling her into a tight hug. A single, grateful sob rose up in her, and then she was silent, hugging him back just as hard.


End file.
